STATE POLITICS: Bill would put 17-year-olds in juvenile system

6:50 PM,
Sep. 5, 2013

Written by

Matthew DeFour
Wisconsin State Journal

A proposal to return first-time, nonviolent 17-year-old offenders to the juvenile justice system has broader bipartisan support than in the past but faces opposition from the state's top law enforcement officer.

Advocates estimate the bill could cost counties as much as $10 million a year if about 2,000 17-year-old offenders received treatment in the juvenile system rather than be sentenced as adults each year.